Appeal following coach collision on A36

We’re appealing for witnesses following a collision involving a coach earlier today (25 September). 

A school coach, travelling from the Bristol area, left the southbound carriageway of the A36 and went into a ditch. 

It happened just after 5.10am, between the Ower roundabout and junction 2 of the M27. 

Fortunately, the 29 school children travelling on the coach were uninjured. One of the four teachers on board suffered a minor leg injury, which was treated at the scene. 

The school were made aware of the incident and contacted all parents. 

The driver of the coach, 48-year-old man from Hungerford, suffered minor injuries and was taken to Southampton general Hospital as a precaution. 

He has since been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and driving whist unfit through drink and/or drugs. He remains in custody at this time. 

The road has now been reopened following a complex recovery of the coach from the ditch. 

We’d like to thank everyone for their patience while we dealt with this and got our investigations underway. 

We’re appealing for any motorists who were on that stretch of road around the time of the collision to contact us if they saw the coach in the lead up to the incident or if you may have any dash cam footage, which could assist with our investigation. 

Anyone with information or relevant dash cam footage should call 101 quoting reference 44250433666 or report online via How to tell us about an existing case or report | Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary.